John Colley
"This is a picture of John and Elizabeth Colley (my great-grandparents) and family. John was born in 1850 in Virginia to David and Spicy Colley. John fought in the Civil War at the age of 12 for the south. After the war, his father took the family back to Virginia where John received an education and came back to Kentucky where he taught school for a time. Unable to support his large family on a teaching salary, he turned to full time f arming. John died in 1897 at the age of 47 from pneumonia.
Elizabeth lived a long life and died in 1930. She never remarried and never moved from the home she and John had made in Charlotte Furnace, Ky, on the banks of the Tygart River. Shown in the picture is my grandfather Tom Colley. James was his twin.
Everett died at the age of 27 while serving time in the Carter County Jail for moonshining. I have his death certificate which shows heart disease and mitral regurgitation as the cause of death. (no autopsy was done and he was only 27 years old.) My great-uncle tells a different story. According to him Everett was severly beaten while in jail and was brought back to the family home where he died within several hours. I found an obituary from the time of his death which just states he had "taken ill" while in jail and died.
I have obituaries and death certificates for many of the people in this picture. If anyone has any information about the Colley/Kibbey families from the Carter - Greenup area I would be very interested in hearing from them."
Submitted by Rosie Gollihue